Season 6, Episode
25
Solid emotions
fail to make up for a slipshod plot
As a premise, the idea of the Bender becoming smart
enough to reach a god-like state (at least that was the description my cable
box provided) seems to share some thematic parallels to “Godfellas”. The idea
of giving Bender unlimited power over other tends to flesh out the better parts
of the character, to show how absolute power can improve a person, a very optimistic
idea to couple with a very cynical character. And since “Godfellas” was all
about the human capacity for faith, I couldn’t help but anticipate that tonight’s
episode would give us a similar morality lesson.
“Overclockwise” was nowhere near that kind of episode, and
despite a strong third act, it ends up being quite a mess, perhaps because it doesn’t
follow through with the Bender side of things as much as it should, and thus
the episode lacks a strong thematic through line. In fact, most of the episode
was spent among the other two plots (I’m not even going to bother figuring out
which plots are A, B, and C status), which concerned Mom Corp. in the one and
Fry/Leela in the other.
Fry and Leela’s relationship has gotten a beating over
the last few months, mostly because it’s been neglected by the writers for the
whole of season 6B up until now. (For a while I was hoping that this was a rescheduling
issue, but nope. This episode is production code S06BE12, and sure enough this
was the 12th episode to air.) At this point, it’s a bit hard to care
considering that it’s been over a year since we got anything dealing with their
relationship – the last episode to do so was early in last summer’s run. As
such, most of this felt entirely out of the blue, and it was hard to become invested
in something that frankly no longer makes any narrative sense.
Mom Corp. has always been a good source of humor for the
show, mostly as a way for them to take down corporation, but doing so with a
familiar character. It’s helps to ground the humor, sure, but it also means
that there can’t be too much Mom; she’s too much of an intentional caricature
for us to take seriously as a working part of the world. Thus it was hard for me to buy Mom propelling
a third of the episode, as I expected the show to cut away from her at any
moment and get on with the real story – the story of Bender, the god-like
machine.
Yet Bender stayed out of most of the episode, until he
returned in the third act, when not coincidentally the whole episode came
together. Carrying the empathy for the humans he has claimed to have surpassed,
seeing Bender enter the courtroom finally seemed to make the Mom plot matter, and
we got a good deal of the “power Bender becomes benevolent towards humans” vibe
I had been looking for.
The closing moments – which saw Fry and Leela look over
their fate, as predicted by Super-Bender – was a moment that shouldn’t have
worked, given the context of the episode, yet did work within the context of
the show as a whole. Regardless of how poorly this half of season six has
treated their relationship, it’s hard to forget all the great moments they had
in the original run, and I for one still want them to have a happy ending. So I
somehow found myself, against my will, sitting on the edge of my seat, my
emotions going up and down with their facial expression, praying that it all
turns out all right, and filled with anticipation for seeing these mysterious
moments play out in the future. It may have been a calculated move on the
writers’ part, but it was one that got to me, and it was a strong moment to end
(the proper run) of this fairly weak season.
Next Week: The
non-canonical, three stories of “Regeneration”.
Quotes, Etc:
This week in Opening Captions: Soon To Be a Hit
Television Show
“Don’t you ever worry about the future?” “Sure, but you’re
always in it. Also sometimes Terminators.”
“Oooh, I’m smart, I can spell ‘aardvark’. February is the
shortest month!”
“What is it, you colicky bastards?”
“I’m saying ‘ding-dong’ because you don’t have a doorbell.”
“I really shouldn’t agree to things I don’t understand,
but I’m slightly thirsty.”
“Congratulations, Mother. Can you die happy now?” “Not
yet.” “Darn.”
“You’re a big dummy, Einstein! Get a haircut!”
“Anyone have access to a lofty realm of gravy?” "I can conceive of gravies that would boggle your tiny mind!"
“Mom is a poor, frail industrialist whose three special
sons require constant neglect.”
“I’ve been thinking about moving on with my life, and
hearing the words ‘Nibbler on the Roof’ has given me just the kick in the pants
I needed.”
“Wait, this isn’t a barrel, it’s just a stinking cask. I
want my money baaaaaacccckkkk….”
“That was not worth $3000.”
“Every time I burp, a new galaxy is born. Two if I’ve
been eating broccoli.”
“Better cover your ‘nads. I may get a little non-Newtonian
in here.”
“Someone used to care about me? Hooray!”
“Baliff, release the jury collies.”
“Order, order in the head.”
“One more in-burst like that, and I’ll have this court
removed from you.”
“We’ve had some tough times…but at least we’ve won a
Tony!” “You won a Tony.”
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